Other Lives: A growing business

When the construction company he worked for wasn’t paying on time, or “always had an excuse.” He started his own small business as a high-end exterior carpenter.

“I bought an air compressor, a ladder and a roofing gun, some insurance and started doing work,” he said. Nicely Done Company was born.

The downside of working for oneself hit him around 2008 to 2009.

“There wasn’t a lot of work. I thought ‘There has to be a better way’ — to not always be struggling," he said.

As a boy growing up in Indiana he grew crops like corn and pumpkins. “I’ve always had a green thumb,” he said. “I started reading about controlled environments and hydroponics. It’s complete control — like a fish bowl, you control everything.” Plus, he had a useful ingredient to add to the mix: “I like to tinker.”

In the beginning, his plan was to focus on wheat grass. “I had a couple of juice bar clients.” He discovered he couldn’t compete with pricing of the big farms. “I bought all this equipment thinking I’m going to be a wheat grass billionaire,” he added with a laugh.

“I found out about microgreens.” He started researching his options and found out that restaurants used the nutritious young vegetables for their flavor as well as garnishes. He remembered his first pitch: “It was Restaurant Week about four years ago. I grew a bunch of stuff, packaged it up, made a sticker and gave out free samples to 10 different restaurants. I figured if nobody buys it, I’m giving up.”

The first call was from Evan Mallett, chef at The Black Trumpet. Burris said the voicemail from Mallett said, “Someone dropped off some beautiful mircrogreens and I’d like to talk to the person who grew them.”

The first domino had fallen. “Once he called, all of a sudden The Dolphin Striker wanted some, then Mombo and the chef at Mombo introduced me to the chef at Rudi’s. Two Bees Produce now services seven local restaurants and a caterer. A year ago, his wife, Danielle began assisting him, especially when farmers’ markets are in season.

“We did the winter and summer markets in York. You learn a lot. You find out about yourself, about people, about your prod uct,” he said.

Though Nicely Done Company is still doing nicely, he said that after years of working in construction, “My hands hurt, my knees hurt, my feet hurt. When I roof, my toes hurt.” Now that the

economy is stronger and people are building again, “It’s hard for me to just be a farmer. If business was bad, it would be really easy for me to just keep farming.” Is full-time farming his goal? “Yes. It doesn’t break my back. It rarely gets me angry.”

Burris is a self-described hippie. “I used to look like one,” he added. “We don’t waste. It’s why we like hydroponic farming. I use 10 percent of the water that a field farmer uses. The water gets collected, goes back to the reservoir, treated, and goes back to the plants. There’s minimal waste.”

He also grows just what he needs. “There’s nothing left over. You go to the farmers’ market with 100 heads of lettuce, they only buy 80. You’re left with the other 20. What do you do with 20 heads of lettuce? We don’t have much extra because everything is pre-ordered.” He says that “four years is long enough to know that if I plant 27 grams of arugula seeds, I’ll end up with three-quarters of a pound.” His produce is also GMO- and pesticide-free.

In addition to using a fraction of the water of a field farm, by utilizing vertical hydroponics, he grows the vegetables in the minimum amount of space. He explained, “I can get five times my square footage using the space from floor to ceiling.”

The use of LED lighting technology allows him to “run three times the amount of light bulbs as I was before with the same amount of power.” He added that “If I had a solar set-up, it would be almost carbon neutral.”

“With farming, it’s not whether you’re good at this, or that. It’s consistency.”

He says his work is “constantly evolving.” He smiles and continues, “I think I’d be gardening regardless of whether I was making money at it.”

He says he’s always learning new things about farming. And life. “It’s a waste of a day if you don’t learn anything. I’m still not sure what I want to be when I grow up, but I’m pretty sure it’s farming.”

For more information, visit Two Bees Produce on Facebook. (https://www.facebook.com/pg/twobeesproduce)

Michael Lohmeier lives in Portsmouth writes a bi-weekly feature on the second lives many people lead outside of their main professions. Know someone who would make for an interesting profile? Drop a line to edge@seacoastonline.com and share a bit about their story and their contact information. See more Other Lives profiles online at www.seacoastonline.com.

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